Iodice architetti

kindergarten and nursery . Roncofreddo

photos: Iodicearchitetti

The project lays on the existing contour lines without making any artificial operations on the terrain, the result is a system that seems to be born from the existent, until it becomes an independent organism that has a great spatial and functional identity. The hypothesis of an excavation in order to realise the intervention required was rejected, so we attempted to operate on the existing contour lines without raping or moderating indelibly the existing condition.

The project from a typological point of view consists of the joint of two blocks of different shapes, one square and one rectangular, that are joined in correspondence to a large courtyard and vertical connections. The configuration between the square and the rectangle reminds us of a game of primary construction. The centrality becomes the balance of each element compared to the nucleus; from the sky, the building appears as an archetype sign. The whole organism is characterised of 3 courts that break through the two volumes; the major court that is located between the two volumes and so, between the two functions, is both a filter between the two organisms and a connection between them and sustains in it a wide ramp; on the contrary, the other two smaller courts are respectively located in the pertinence of the nursery and in the pertinence of the kindergarten. The square-shaped building was proposed to settle the nursery school and was equipped with 3 sections as specified in the competition’s proclamation with the associated services as well as an area of psychomotor and sensory-motor activities and an area of pictorial and plastic interest; everything revolves around an outdoor playground and entertainment area of relevance of the kindergarten. The rectangular building was proposed to settle the nursery and was always equipped with 3 sections, divided in infants’ classroom, semi-weaned classroom and weaned classroom as specified in the competition’s proclamation with the associated services, as well as public areas such as welcome parents, teachers’ lounge, in addition to all those common services such as the heating system, the equipment rooms, the storage and the kitchen. In both buildings, both the classrooms of the kindergarten and those of the nursery are exposed to the valley; this is a good choice both from a purely functional point of view thanks to the large amount of light that the classrooms can pick up naturally, and from a point of view of visual perception, thanks to the wonderful view that one can have from the classrooms. The access to the shell is guaranteed by a wide ramp leading from the place of the buses’ stop to the entrance itself.